The present invention relates generally to an improved hanger of a skateboard truck of a skateboard, heretofore referred to as a truck, wherein such improved hanger helps stabilize such skateboard during certain tricks and maneuvers, specifically trucks stalls and grinds.
A skateboard generally comprises an elongated deck, two trucks, and four wheels. Two wheels are secured to opposite ends of an axle portion of each truck. Each truck is secured to opposite ends of the bottom surface of the deck. A skateboard is generally ridden with a skateboarder positioned on the top surface of the deck and the wheels contacting the ground or an obstacle, wherein the general direction of motion is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the deck.
A skateboarder may perform tricks and maneuvers while riding his or her skateboard. A truck stall is when the hanger of at least one truck is positioned in direct contact with an edge or apex of an obstacle, stalling the general motion of the skateboarder and skateboard. A grind is when the hanger of at least one truck is positioned in direct contact with an edge or apex of an obstacle but the skateboarder and skateboard continue their general direction of motion, literally grinding the hanger along the obstacle. Heretofore the term grind refers to either a grind or a truck stall.
The hanger of a truck generally comprises a ring-shaped member, a pivot stem, and an elongated barrel that houses an axle. During truck grinds, it is the bottom surface of the elongated barrel that contacts the edge or apex of the obstacle. This elongated barrel is generally cylindrical, flat along its longitudinal axis, and almost always smooth or polished to minimize friction during a grind. The elongated barrel of popular trucks manufactured during the 1970s was sometimes rectangular, generally much shorter than those of today, and sometimes included a logo or ornamentation impressed therein. However, as skateboard tricks and maneuvers progressed and grinding became popular, only smooth and flat elongated barrels remained practical.
Numerous trucks are described in the prior art, each describing various modifications or improvements thereof. A few prior art patents are listed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,460 (Williams), U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,262 (Yamada et. al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,987 (Bryant) teach trucks with improved turning responsiveness.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,093,842 (Chmelar) teaches a truck with wheel bite prevention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,471 (Mullen) teaches a truck with a replaceable slide plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,666 (Andersen et. al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,819 (Andersen et. al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,001 (Christianson) teach shock-absorbing trucks.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,243,925 (Lukoszek), U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,837 (Kirkland), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,304 (Kirkland et. al.) teach configurable trucks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,411 (Jones et. al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,734 (Barnard), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,693 (Whitmarsh) teach easily manufactured trucks.
U.S. Pat. No. D257,051 (Chambers) teaches a truck with a design impressed on the bottom surface of the elongated barrel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,369 (Anderson) teaches a truck with a low-friction grinding ability.
The smooth and longitudinally flat elongated barrel of the above prior art trucks create a limitation that manifests during a grind attempt. When a skateboarder engages his or her skateboard onto an obstacle to attempt a grind, the elongated barrel contacting such obstacle may slip off from such obstacle in a direction generally perpendicular to the general direction of intended grinding motion along such obstacle, resulting in a failed grind attempt. The improved hanger of the present invention, which can be adapted to cooperate with a variety of existing skateboard truck baseplates, defines a plurality of corrugations on the bottom of the elongated barrel, each generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof. Such corrugations help to prevent such elongated barrel from slipping off from an obstacle when in contact therewith, thereby increasing the stability of the skateboard during a grind.
U.S. Pat. No. D477,648 (Smith), U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,302 (Smith), and U.S. Pat. No. D421,082 (Lopez) also teach trucks that result in increased stability during a grind; however, the mechanism taught or shown thereby is a large and generally smooth channel formed at the medial portion of the bottom surface of the elongated barrel. Such a channel operates to partially encompass an edge or apex of an obstacle during a grind, as is typically formed to cooperate best with the standard two-inch diameter round pipe found on most skateboard ramps and obstacles. In contrast, each individual corrugation of the present invention is significantly smaller than such channel. Furthermore, such corrugations are strategically distributed along the bottom of the elongated barrel to ensure adequate engagement of some number of corrugations with an obstacle during a grind, regardless of the general shape of the edge or apex of such obstacle.
U.S. Pat. No. D256,263 (Brawner), U.S. Pat. No. D252,693 (Brawner), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,925 (Williams, et. al.) teach trucks that include a pair of ornamental ribs at each distal end of the elongated barrel. Such distal location of such ornamental pairs of ribs makes engagement with an edge or apex of most obstacles therewith during a grind attempt impossible. For example, such ornamental distal pairs of ribs could not engage a standard two-inch diameter round pipe that is found on most skateboard ramps and rails. In contrast, the corrugations of the present invention, which are strategically distributed along the bottom of the elongated barrel, ensure adequate engagement of some number of corrugations with such obstacle during a grind. Accordingly, the quantity of individual corrugations defined on the elongated barrel of the present invention is greater than the quantity of such individual ornamental distal ribs defined on such elongated barrels of such prior art trucks.
Accordingly, what is desired, and has not heretofore been developed, is a skateboard truck hanger that defines a plurality of corrugations strategically distributed along the bottom of the elongated barrel of such hanger, capable of engaging an edge or apex of an arbitrary obstacle during a grind, thereby helping to prevent such elongated barrel from slipping off from such obstacle in a direction generally perpendicular to the general direction of intended grinding motion along such obstacle. In a further feature of the present invention, the corrugations of the hanger protract upwards on a front portion of the elongated barrel at a specified angle towards the pivot stem of the hanger.